Sometimes more is too much

I did a Belgian Wit recently. Was a less than perfect brew day really, but i stupidly decided to add a bit more than usual coriander in.

It seemed fine even at bottling time.

I just had an early taster (1 week conditioning).... and I REALLY dont like it. Way too much coriander, and i suspect the coriander was ****ty too as it has quite an unpleasant aroma.

It really pisses me off as the beer underneath all that is real good.

How much will the coriander fade with a bit of ageing? My wits dont usually last long enough, so don't know how ageing affects it.

Cheers

I just bottled a Belgian Wit Monday. One week is not long enough for the flavors to mellow. Hopefully with time and patience the taste will improve. How much coriander did you use?

fbold1 said:

I just bottled a Belgian Wit Monday. One week is not long enough for the flavors to mellow. Hopefully with time and patience the taste will improve. How much coriander did you use?

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I realize it's early, but this is not my first wit. I know what it's supposed to sate like at this point.

I added about 10-12 grams

Might need a few months

Wich type of coriander did you use? The one with yellowish colour and longer grains is traditionaly used in Belgium. It gives better flavour to witts than the one with dark- yellow and shorter grains.

Coriander is one of this additions where you really need to be careful. It'll calm down in a few months

It might take a bit, but it'll tone down. Also, if it was ground very fine, you could be tasting some still in suspension. You might try storing one cold for a week and seeing if it is still as pronounced.

The corriander will mellow and fade, but be patient with it, because it is going to take a good 6-8 weeks before you start seeing any improvements. I did the same thing with my first wit. I made it on my SWMBO's request, and she HATED it after about 3 weeks of bottle conditioning, but thought it was the best beer I ever made after about 12 weeks of bottle conditioning.

Put it away in a dark closet and forget about it until summer. It'll be good by then.

TopherM said:

Put it away in a dark closet and forget about it until summer. It'll be good by then.

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Aren't witts supposed to be the best when they are fresh ?

Wits are crisper and certainly taste fresher when young. HOWEVER, you can't have it both ways in this case:

1) A wit with overwhelming coriander taste certainly isn't better young. If you want to drink it young, you are stuck with the overwhelming coriander.

2) If you want the coriander to fade and meld with the rest of the beer, you have to age it. Not really any other options.

Your choice.

His Dudeness has spoken.

Not much you can do other than what has been stated.

The extra aging will really tie the beer together....lol.

Cheers guys

Guess we'll wait and see. I suspect even more than quantity... the type of coriander is what's jumping out at me. It's the smaller darker grained stuff. Won't.be using it again.

Live and learn eh

TopherM said:

The extra aging will really tie the beer together....lol.

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Lol

I also made a mistake with these darker grains. I put once only 7 grams per 5 g and it was way too much.
This is what the good ones should look like.

PS- I heard this type is from India

Yeah that's what I usually use. Usually I have a lot of it around as I use it for making Biltong (kinda like jerky).

Alas, I ran out and used
the cooking stuff which I'm entirely unhappy with.